


"Alien Sburbs" by catalogTruisms

by lucidChthonia (liquidCitrus)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Aliens, Blogging, Essays, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Replay Value AU, SBURB Guide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 07:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5820259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liquidCitrus/pseuds/lucidChthonia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>There are a few isolated reports - mostly second-hand - that Ring ships have occasionally discovered things that look like session-bubbles, and that are recognizable as sessions of Sburb, but that have drastically different rules. These reports are not very credible when considered in isolation.</i>
</p><p>  <i>There are, however, several examples of Sburb having limited adaptations to unusual species finding their way into sessions.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	"Alien Sburbs" by catalogTruisms

There are a few isolated reports - mostly second-hand - that Ring ships have occasionally discovered things that look like session-bubbles, and that are recognizable as sessions of Sburb, but that have drastically different rules. These reports are not very credible when considered in isolation.

There are, however, several examples of Sburb having limited adaptations to unusual species finding their way into sessions.

In one notable instance, a “hoofdog” or “critter” found their way into a troll Sburb session. They brought with them a smattering of telepathic and/or quadrupedal carapaces, a game of Arimaa being used as the metaphor for the Battlefield of Skaia in place of chess, and a very strange variant of Pesterchum/Trollslum called Expressfriend that was operated entirely by drawing.

In another case, a species that Replayerdom has since nicknamed “birdbros” showed up in a session with other species. In that session, Sburb spawned significantly more rods proportioned appropriately for perching, and several of the lands were built on the assumption that the Player on that land could fly. Also, all god-tier pajamas in that session were sleeveless, presumably to accomodate birdbro wings.

Even the differences between trolls and humans, small as they are, can result in distinct changes to Sburb. For example, in troll Sgrub sessions, the relationship between Jack Noir and the Black Queen is explicitly acknowledged to be kismessisitude by Dersite literature. This is never found in human-only sessions.

If you were to extrapolate these developments, you could theorize that sessions entirely populated by ravecritters would have quadrupedal, telepathic Carapaces and Consorts, or that sessions entirely populated by birdbros would have horizontal beams instead of floors and benches.

Extrapolate this a bit further and you get a possible explanation for alien Sburbs; Sburb may well come in many different forms, each fine-tuned for the species and culture it was spawned from. The problem is that sometimes Sburb’s algorithm for assigning players to sessions mixes several species together in the same session.

Sburb seems to prefer assigning players to sessions with other players of the same species. However, sometimes (perhaps if same-species sessions are unavailable or impossible?), players are then assigned to sessions that are maximally compatible to their morphology and mind-structure.

Sburb’s algorithm for assignment by mind-structure seems relatively reliable. Unfortunately, Sburb’s attempts to reconcile the features of various species’ versions of Sburb are less reliable. Instead of prioritizing making the session as accessible as possible, as would be reasonable, features of alien Sburbs seem to be imported in direct proportion to the number of aliens that are in that session.

For example, in the case of the hoofdog, they were brought into a session that had three telepathic trolls. The trolls and the hoofdog could communicate telepathically with each other and with a significant fraction of Carapaces. However, there were also four other trolls that did not have telepathy. The telepathic Carapaces - some of which were critical to storyline quests - were not fluent in spoken or written language. Had several of the trolls not been reliable and experienced Replayers, this session would almost certainly have failed.

To extend this further, if for some reason a Ringship were forced to take shelter in a bubble containing an alien Sburb, they could find it difficult to resupply or leave. The alien Sburb players might not be able to communicate with the players, the architecture of an alien Medium could be impossible to comprehend or navigate, and the alien session of Sburb could have features as critical as our roleplay coefficient system that we would not be able to comprehend.

There is, however, one silver lining to this sorry state of affairs. As far as I can tell, even in sessions with aliens as strange as the hoofdog, all Denizens can comprehend, negotiate, and grant requests in any native communication system. The hoofdog could communicate with the Denizens fluently, in its native telepathy, and the denizen Medusa even served as a cultural translator between the hoofdog and the trolls on at least one occasion.

So, if you one day find yourself in an alien session of Sburb, you would be well served to find your Denizen as quickly as you can, and Bargain with her for the ability to comprehend and complete the session. That is the only advice I can give you, and for that I apologize.

**Author's Note:**

> This was also published on my [blog](http://eternity-braid.tumblr.com/post/137839678001/alien-sburbs). If you like this, please check my blog out! There is a lot more stuff there.


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